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Celebrating 70 Years of U.S.-New Zealand Relations

President Roosevelt Witnesses Signing of Declaration for World Economic Security

Seventy years ago today, on February 16, 1942, Walter Nash entered the Oval Office and presented to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt his credentials as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of New Zealand. Mr. Nash, then the Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, thus became his country's first Ambassador to the United States.

Mr. Nash's arrival in Washington marked the establishment of New Zealand's first Embassy anywhere, preceding establishment of Kiwi missions in Ottawa and then Canberra. Mr. Nash's arrival as Ambassador marked both the launch of formal N.Z.-U.S. diplomatic relations and New Zealand's assumption of responsibility for its own foreign policy and international relationships, independent of the Crown.

President Roosevelt reciprocated by appointing an envoy to Wellington. It is important to note, however, that American diplomatic presence in Aotearoa had begun more than a century before that. It was on October 12, 1838, well before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, that the United States commissioned John R. Clendon to be its first Consul in Aotearoa.

Mr. Nash proved to be a tenacious advocate for close Kiwi-American relations. He had extraordinary access in Washington, and it was he who paved the way for the arrival in New Zealand in June 1942 of tens of thousands of American Marines and soldiers to defend Aotearoa from feared invasion, and to establish a staging ground for engaging the invaders in the Pacific islands.

Seventy years on, Kiwis and Americans still stand shoulder to shoulder on the issues that matter the most in the world. We advocate together for universal human rights from a position of deeply held, shared civic values. The brave men and women of our respective armed forces serve and sacrifice together in peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts around the world.

And we are working closely together on a wide variety of economic development, climate change, disaster response, and other projects. In a show-me-the-money era, when values are often viewed as quaint inconveniences, it is important to recognize that first principles rather than pecuniary gain bind our relationship together.

Yes, we don't always agree on everything. But that is to be expected. If we don't occasionally squabble, then we aren't being honest with each other. What matters is not the 5 percent or so of the time that we disagree, but the 95 percent of the time that our interests and instincts naturally align. What also matters greatly is how we deal with disagreement when it occurs. There will always be those who politicize or sensationalize to advance their own narrow agendas. Those souls do not serve their respective peoples well.

We are both Pacific nations geographically, demographically, culturally, and historically, and our longstanding partnership is a major force for good in the region. Secretary Clinton and Minister McCully reconfirmed that fundamental alignment when they signed the Wellington Declaration in 2010, which pledged to deepen and expand our bilateral relationship even further through practical cooperation in the Pacific region and enhanced political and expert dialogue.

The Wellington Declaration has borne fruit in dozens of tangible ways in just its first year, from accelerated collaboration on agricultural greenhouse gas emission research, to a joint humanitarian naval exercise in Tonga and Vanuatu, to an extremely short-notice operation using U.S. Coast Guard resources to alleviate a potable water crisis in Tokelau, to increased educational and exchange programs, and much more.

The Wellington Declaration fits naturally within America's pervasive, ongoing engagement in the Pacific. We don't always get everything right, but the immense positive contribution that the United States has made in the region over the past century -- at great cost in American lives and treasure -- is beyond reasonable dispute. As Secretary Clinton wrote in a recent journal article, "We are the only power with a network of strong alliances in the region, no territorial ambitions, and a long record of providing for the common good. Along with our allies, we have underwritten regional security for decades, patrolling Asia's sea lanes and preserving stability, and that in turn has helped create the conditions for growth. We have helped integrate billions of people across the region into the global economy by spurring economic productivity, social empowerment, and greater people-to-people links … [as] a champion of open markets and an advocate for universal human rights."

New Zealand has been a strong, consistent, important partner in many of those efforts. That's why we remember and celebrate Mr. Nash's arrival in Washington 70 years ago, as well as Mr Clendon's appointment in Aotearoa 174 years ago. And that's why the steady work on reinvigorating government-to-government relations over the past few years has been so important.

In a transactional world, real friendship is a special treasure. As the great American philosopher Oprah Winfrey has said, "Everyone wants to ride with you in the limo. What you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down."

From the dark days of 1942, to mutual support on Antarctica, to Hurricane Katrina, to the Christchurch earthquakes, that's the kind of friendship that Americans and Kiwis have. No official press release or press conference is required to announce it. It's natural, deep, and instinctive. And it's there when one needs it most.